Information storing and displaying device



W. C. CUTLER.

INFORMATION STORING AND DISPLAYI'NG DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I6. I92]- 1,3s5, 1 1 Patentedifinli), 1921.v I o o o o .ET J m 45 f Q g x 4 4 V g 4 w 46 L 27 A 53:12 o 9 o 4013 52 55M a 50 400 9 9i, A i", 382% I 95kg: f I

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W. C. CUTLER. INFORMATION STORING AND DISPLAYING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED mm. 16, 1921.

4 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'H. l/VYENTOR;

- ir law Patented y 19, 1921.

A UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE...

WILLIAMrG. CUTLER, OF NORTH GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA.

@DIFORMATION STORING AND DISPLAYING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 19 1921-.

. Application filed March 16, 1921. Serial No. 452,698.

M One of the objects ojfthis inventionis to provide device so designed that it willnot likely get out of working order.

Another object i to provide a this type with positive actions and movements and stillmaintaining a suitable flexibility.

Another object is to provide a spring and ratchet-like brake for. the setting mechanism, designed and arranged so as to cause a slowing down of the movement of the setting mechanism as soon as the foot pedal is touched and completely locking the setting mechanism when the foot pedal is in its lowermost position.

Another object is to ,provide. a movable curtain in rear ofthe position in which the information matter is normally displayed.

Another object is to provide notches in the card-carrying members of the device of a shape and sizeto retain'theeards easily and securelyeven when the carrying members are .niovcdto ELPOSllZlOIl to bring the notches toproject in a practically sidewise,

direction. t

Another object is to provide power storing means in the shaft of the cardlifting mechanism to remain locked and tending to in crease. powerup to the time when the foot pedal reaches its lowermost position.

Another object is to provide a spring fan 7 for retarding the movement of the card lifting mechanism.

Another olnect is to provide cushioning, supporting, and guiding means for the card lifting hooks to occupy little space, to require little accunacy in the manufacture. and

in assembling the device, and still provide proper accuracy and satisfactory service when applied. y a

Other objects will appear from the following description and appended claims as well of Los An device of g as from the accompanying drawing, in Wh1Cl1--- Fi ure .1 is a general vertical cross sectiona view of the device,..fullyassembled, hav ng practically onl one end plate of the cabinet removedand t erefore nearly representlng an end or a side elevation of the device.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail front ele vation of the card-liftinghooks with weights and guiding members. i i

Fig.3 is a fragmentary detail front elevation of the card-lifting mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail sideelevation of the foot pedal terminating within the front wall or member of the cabinet of the device, as a slight modification of the arrangement in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the slightly modified arrangement of the foot pedal and cabinet in Fig. 4. a

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary. detail front elevation of the shaft with the several pulleys for the card lifting tapes, illustrating the adjustabilityof theone pulley in relation to the other pulleys on the same shaft. I

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a turnbuckle in combination with theattaching end vfor the tapes in detail.

Fig. 8 a cross section of the lifting hook on line 8-8of Fig. 9.

Fig.3 is a detail frontelevatiolnof one of the lifting hooks.

Fig. 10 isa top plan view of the hook in Fig. llis a fragmentary detail side elevation of the brakingmechanism of the setting mechanism. V

Fig. 12 is a front elevation ofthe outside of the device with the upper part of the glassed in opening and wall and the lower part of the wall, taken away, showing the indicating means in operative relation to the index means.

It is customary to place this kind of devices in ublic places and at points where they can li one desiring to usethem. Any working mechanism can however easily be thrown out of working order avhen so placed at points not under the control. or supervision of experts or persons experienced with the devices. To avoid such happenings. with a device of this type, it is the main object in e reached at any time and by anyview to provide suitable details and parts that will and cannot likely be tampered with from the outside to such an extent that '14 forms the outer termination or outer cipalcombinatlons of parts over the hooks bers.

I the ends of the pins of the cards member of thelifting mechanism. The setting'fand lifting mechanisms form the prinarranged in this device. I I

The storing members 15 are provided for movably supporting the cards 16." The cards are suspended on the pins or bars 17, provided on and along one edge of the cards so as to project over theside edges, as clearly illustrated in Fi 2. In storing position, rest in the notches 18 of the storing or card supporting members' 15 in v a position to swing freely 19 of the card lifting mem- The cardlifting'hooks are illustrated in detail in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. The hooks 19 are provided with recesses 20 to receive and hold the pins of the cards. These recesses are designed of larger dimensions in the lower portions 20 than in the upper receiving portions, as indicated at 21 in Fig. 8. A- card descending into storing position, and

I also when liftedout of storing position cannot easily be shaken out of such recesses in the hooks.

The notches 18 in the storing and cardsupporting members 15 are'similarly shaped,

being of larger dimensions in innermostportions as indicated'iat 22 and of narrower size near the receiving edges as indicated at 23.,

A' card,:replacedby'the lifting hooks 19 ,into the notches 18 0fthe storing members "15', descends easily through the narrow openingat 23 into the larger holding recess 22. The cards hang in their storing and inoperative position between the two storing and supporting members 15 in the notches in the edges of the storing members 15. The hooks and inoperative posi tion below the ends of the pins 17, as clearly illustrated inFig. 2.

, The card storing and supporting members I15are swingably mounted on the pins 24 on the sides of the cabinet, so that thecards,

can hang and freely swing between the two members 15.

fThe notches 18 are provided and arranged as close as possible one to the otherso that the possibly largest number of cards 16 can be stored on the members 15. In the drawpulley 36, the

ing, the notches may appear rather large in proportion to the thickness of the cards, but it will easily be understood that such proportioning and arrangement is only made to make the illustration as clear as possible, and that the cards ma be stored much. closer than illustrated, an in fact always are stored as close as possible, as long as a selected card may easily be removed from its storing position to view position and back without disturbing the next cards.

The selective position from which the selected card is lifted into view position is indicated at 25. Any of the stored cards on the storing and supporting members 15 must be moved to selective position to be lifted into view position. All the stored cards are therefore kept in proper order, and an index is placed and kept in a suitable position on or in the device by which any of the stored cards may be located. The index marks are corresponding to marks on the front glass, indicated at 26. An indicating member 27 is movable behind the glass 26. Gears or other similar suitable members 28 are inserted between the storing members 15 and the indicating member 27, so that the positions of the several cards on the storing members correspond to the marks on the front glass and thereby to the index.

The hand lever or handle 13 serves to move and swing the storing members 15 and thereby the stored cards to selective position. A drum 29 is provided. on a common shaft 30 with the handle 13. A flexible member 31 is wound a suitable number of times around the drum to properly engage the drum and passes also over the pulley 32 to which the ends of 31 are attached to properly engage the pulley. The small. pul ley 33 serves to guide and properly hold the flexible member 31 to the drum and pulley 32. A connecting rod 34 is pivotally engaging with the pulley 32 at 35 and also pivotally engaging with the pulley 36 at 37. Since the pulley 32 is smaller than the pulley 36 swings or practically oscillates only to a short extent while the pulley 32 is apt to make full turns. The

pulley 36 is provided on both ends of the shaft 38, so that the two pulleys 36 transmit their oscillating movement to the pulleys 39 by the flexible members 40. The pulleys 39 are provided one on each of the storing members 15.

Making the drum 29 proportionally small compared to the several pulleys, allows a rather quick movement of the handle 13 without materially disturbing the slower moving other parts with the cards.

The spring 41 is provided for balancing the storing members 15, so that the setting mechanism may be operated just as easily when the cards are all hanging toward one side of the central support, that is when the shaft 64, fitting in the sleeve portion 65,"

assume I last or one of *the last cards of the whole selective position, .in Fig. 1 the 1 cards being shown practically centralized with the centermost card in selective position. The

spring 41 stretches when the storing membars 15 are moved iaway from this eentral positionineither direction. 1 a

The lifting hooks 19%16 lprovided with weight members 42 and connectingrods 'eii.

Flexible members =44 arerprovided lto 0101b nect the lifting hooks to the ipulleys-45t Two pulleys 45 are provided on a common shafti46, so as to'amure an even and equal movement to both oppositely-arranged lifting hooks, see F pulley-47 1s provi ed to connectithe :lieciible member 48 of the lifting means. .The flexi ble member 48 connects the pulley .47 with the rod 49, as indicated at 50. i'llhesecond end of the connecting rod 49 is pivotally connected to the disk 52, as indicated at 51.

A turning of the disk 52 produces axdownward movement of the rod-49 with theifiexible member 48 and thereby :a turning of the shaft 46. Turnin the shaft 46 causes a winding of the flexi 1e Incmbens44 onto the pulleys 45, and therebyia lifting of lifting hooks For correctlng lifting hooks in relation to the flexible member 48, the pulley 47 is adjustably engaged. with the shaft 46, asby a setscrew lindicated at 53 in Fig. 6. i r 1 In their vertical movement, the lifting hooks 19 are guided by the rods 5410s illustrated in Fig. 2.1 The hooks 19 are forthis purpose provided with the eyes 55 to slid-v ingly engage with the rods :54, see also Figs. 9 and 10. p The lower terminations ofwthe rods 54 are preferably shaped in loop form, as indicated at 56 to project below the hooks for supporting the hooks in their lowermost positions. To avoid a. clicking-or any similar noise or any hard jar'when the hooks descend into resting positions, the cushions 57, made of rubber orany other soft resilient material, are provided or disposedon the looped portions of the rods 54.

The disk 52 is actuated bythefootpedal 14. The motion of the foot pedal in its downward movement is transmitted through T e the connecting rod 58 to the lever 59. lever 59 is pivotally mounted at one end as indicated at 60 and with its free end 61 may be of solid material or tube-like. The shaft 64 is turnably disposed in the tube or sleeve portion 65 of the shaft, as indicated at 66. The sleeve portion 66 and the smaller normall form one shaft interconnected by thes r ng .67, one end of the shaft being turna 1y mounted in the box 68 and the 1, 2 and :6. A third the lifting position of the le 72 and disk 52 at adesired moment, as Wlll be described later on.

The arrangement of the foot pedal 14,

theconnecting rod 58, the lever 59, and the lever 63, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, is made to provide for a movement of the foot pedal downwardly and thereby lockin the levers 59 and .63until the foot pedal "s back to near its normal uppermostposition when thefoot pedal becomes locked until the other levers-are back to their normal inoperative position. The operation of the foot pedal :transmits motionto lever 59 through connecting rod 58, the lever 63 tending to store power inthe spring 67 and being affected y the tension of that spring, therefore causing a snapping back of the lever 63 as "soon as the lever 59 with its-end 61passes beyond the point 73 of thelever- 63 so that theend 61 of the lever59 engages under the end 73 of the lever 63 as indicated in dotted lines at 74. As soon as the foot pcdalis released,it Snapsback to its uppermost position by the action of the spring 75. On

reaching the u permost position, the hook end 76 of the oot pedal engages below the a hook end 77 of the lever 63, thereby pushing or moving the lever 63 to release the end 61 of the lever 59 from engagementwith the lever 63. Thelever 59 movesback to tion above the arch-shaped lip or head 79 on the lever 63, so as to prevent a down- Ward movement of the footvpedal until the .1 and 3.

inoperative position by the action of the spring 78. The lever 63 is then free to moveback to inoperative position, the hook end 76 of the foot pedal 14 being in" a posiflexiblemember 81 connects the pulley 172 with the pulley 82 onthc shaft 83, the touching the edge 62of the lever 63. The, lever 63 is mounted on the'shaft64, which rotated slowly byithc action of the spring 67. The sprlng fan wheel 84 serves as a governor for the movement of the pulley .72. The s iral spring 85 is wound by the,

action of t e shaft 83 described above, since the end 86of the spiral spring is secured to the cabinet, storing power for returning the shaft 83 and thereby. the pulley 72 and disk. 63 to normal inoperative I s card carrier The disk 52is prevented from moving by 52 with the lever position.

thelever 88, a perforation 87 being rovided in the disk ,52 to 88. On reaching its lowermost position, the

moving the lever 89 and thereby the rod 90 and the lever 88.

manner only released for movement when ment of the lever 88,-the;dis k, 52 is rotatedthe foot pedal reaches its lowermost position. The levers 88v and 89-fare brought back for engaging; with the disk by the spring 91. The desired moment the disk 52 and pulle is when the footpe position, having the lever 59 engaged with the lever 63 so that the jectedto its highest tension H 1 When the disk 52 is released from engages under the tension of the spring 67, controlled by the spring fan 84, thereby producing a slow downward movement of the rod 49 with the flexible member 48,, resulting in a lifting of the hooks 19 with the selected card from the selective position at 25.

Assoon as'the foot pedalis released, the hook end 76 of the foot pedal moves the lever 63 to free the end 61 of the lever 59 thereby freeing also the lever 63,: since the turn the lever 63 and-therewiththe' downward jbers .48 and 44, i and hook end 76 of the foot pedal reaches at such a moment a point above the lip- 79 of the lever 63, thereby locking the foot pedal against movement until I the lever 63 reaches itsnormal inoperative position with the point 80of vthelever 63 past the hook end 76 of the foot pedal 14.

As soon as the lever 63 is released, the stored power in the spring serves to. re-

pulley 72, the disk 52, the rod 49, the flexible memthe lifted 'card'to normal inoperative:position;

The front end of the foot pedal is. prefs erablywithin a recessed portion 92 in the front plateIof the cabinet 12, soas not to protrude out of the front wall-of thecabinet, even though illustrated in Fig. 1 as projecting out of the'cabinet, this'illustration being onlyinadesince the Fig.1 is, rather crowded and would eventually not be so clear'if more details had been shown. See detail'illustrations in Figs. 4 and 5.

A connecting rod-'93 connects the foot pedal 14 with the spring brake member 94, as illustrated Fig. 1 it being only indicated in dotted lines connected-behind the brake member 94 servesto engage with the ratchetor toothed wheel 95. The teeth and spring member areillustrated of rather coarse design, but it will easily be understood that the teethof the wheel 95 must engage with the lever The disk 52 is in this bl to operate 72, referred to above,

al is in its lowermostthe pin is first inserted to spring 67 is sub- ,b

understood, but it is not seemto be too large. A turnbuckle preferably. inserted as illustratedin Fig. 7

gaging with a horizontal line in'detail in Figspll and 1, in

pulley 32. The spring aline or correspond to the number of notches l8in'the card carrier l5, so as to alinc the properly when the brake member 1s operated by'the foot pedal to bring one of the stored cards properly into selective position. i

.1 On the upper end of the lifting rod 49, the rod-end 50 is preferably formed in an open split end 96. The lifting tape or flexie member 48 is folded upon itself as indicated at 97, and a pin 98 is inserted between the folds so as to firmly engage the flexible member 48 within the end of the rod 49. The pin 98 can, of course, be made taper to easily slip in between the folds of the flexible member. within the split end 96 when gradually become tlght and secure within the split member on ing pushedin further, as will easily be absolutely necessary, since the split end easily gives enough to allow a pin to slipin evenif the pin and the material of the flexible member first A movable endless curtain 100 is disposed within the cabinet 12 in a position so that a portion of the curtain can be seen behind the glass front when the information displaying cards are in storing position. The curtain 1s for advertising matter to be shown portion after portion automatically by the movement of the lifting mechanism of the device, and is for this purpose provided with pins 101 or any other similar means to engage with hooks 103 or any other similar suitable means on the flexible or lifting member of the' deviccwThe curtainlUO is disposedover rollers 102 as indicated in the illustration in Fig. 1. In the downward movement of the flexible member 48, the

hook 103 engages with one of the members 101 on the curtain and thereby mows the curtain to bring other portions of the curtaininto view position. As soon as the selected card, lifted by the lifting mechanism by such an operation, has again reached its storing position away from the view position, the new advertising matter on the curtam 1s 1n view positlon.

The lllustratlon in Fig. 12 1s a slightly modified form of indicator easily within the the rack bar 104 ongear 105 and thereby moving the indicator 106011 the band 107 in a past the marks 1.08 on the front glass of the cabinet 12.

Having thus described my invention, I

scope of the invention,

- claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a

series of; cards, apair of circular card car- 'rylng membershavmg pocket like notches 1n their outer edges to retain the cards at a lower 7 than horizontal position of the notches, said cards having means to engage in the notches of the cardcarrying members,

:the circular card carryin notches, said afoot lever, a rotary hand lever havin means operative to bring, any of the car s into selective position, means operative by the foot lever to lift the selected card from members into view position, and means or retarding the action of said foot lever and restoring the same to its starting position.

a 2. In a device of the class described, a series of cards, a pair of circular card carrying members having pocket-like notches in the outer edges to retain the cards at a lower than horizontal position of the cards having means to engage in the notches of the card carrying members, a foot lever, a rotary hand leverhaving means operated-toibring any of the cards into selective positiomlifting hooks having a narrower upper receiving portion and a lower wider holding portion for securely holding the card when lifted from the carrying member into view position, means connecting the foot lever and the hooks, guiding rods for the lifting hooks, and means on th?i hooks for slidingly engaging with the ro s.

3. In a device of the class described, a series of cards, a pair of circular card carrying members having pocket-like notches in the outer edges to retain the cards at a lower than horizontal position of the notches, said cards having means to engage in the notches of the card carrying mem bers, a handle mounted for rotary motion, a foot pedal, means operated by the pedal for moving one card awayfrom the other cards in the card carrying members into view. position, means for returning the removed card back to storing position in the card carrying members, means connecting said handle to said card carrying members, and means for braking and finally locking said handle by the movement of the foot pedal.

4. In a device of the class described, card carrying members having each a driving and setting pulley, two other pulleys mounted on a common shaft below the first-named pulleys of the card carryin members, belts connecting the upper and lower pulleys, a rotary handle, means connecting said rotary handle with the shaft and lower pulleys to produce an oscillating movement of the card carrying members having the several pulleys arranged and proportioned so as to give such a result, a series of cards on the card carriers, and means cards on the carriers into view position and back.

5. In a device of the class described, a series of cards, a rotary hand lever, a foot lever, means operative by the rotation of the hand lever to move any one of the cards to selective position, means operated by the foot spring motor,

restore the operating parts portion of its front, a

for moving one of the lever to move the selected card out of selective position into view position, a rotary I and means operated by the spring motor to retard the moving of and of the device to inoperative position. i a y 6. Ina device of the class described, upper circular card carrying members containing card carrying means, cards, a rotary hand lever,lower circular members, connecting means between the lower circular members and the rotary hand lever, belts connecting the upper and lowercircular members, means operative by the hand lever to produce an oscillating movement on the upper circular and card carrying members, means for retaining said cards in the card carrying members when movedbelow the horizontalr'center line of the carrying members, and means for lifting a desired card from the carrying members into view position.

7. In a device of the class described, a series of cards, a pair of circular card carrying members having pocket-like notches in their outer edges to retain the cards at a lower than a horizontal position of the notches, said cards having means to engage in the notches of the card carrying members, a foot pedal, means operated by the foot pedal for moving one card away from the other cards in the card carrying members into view position, a recess in the lower front of said device and means for terminat ing said foot pedal within said recess.

8. In a device of the class described, a cabinet having a glassed in opening in a pair of circular card having pocket like carr ing members to retain the note es in their outer edges cards when moved to a lower than a horizontal position of the notches, index means under the glass across the lower portion of the glassed in opening, a rotary handle, means connecting the rotary handle to the card carrying means so as to move any one of the cards to selective position and indicating means operative to register with said index means.

9. In an information storing and displaying device, in combination with card storing and displaying mechanism, a movable endless curtain containing advertising matter of which a portion is normally in view position having means operative by the said storing and displaying mechanism when moved between storing and displaying position to change the advertising matter in view b moving the endless curtain.

10. 11 an information storing and dis playing device, in combination with the lifting tape, a split end member having a practically cylindrical cross hole so that the end of the lifting tape may be folded upon itself and secured within the split end member by playing device, in

an inserted round pin within the fold of the tape.

11. In an" information storing and displaying device, in combination with the shaft and pulleys on the shaft by which the card lifting tape is operated, a setting and adjusting means between one of the pulleys andthe shaft for adjusting the lifting position and mechanism.

'12. In an information storing and discombination with the liftmg hooks, an upright bar disposed near both ends of the'lifting hooks for guiding the lifting hooks, the lifting hooks having eyeshaped members for slidingly engaging with the bars.

13; In an information storing and displaying device, in combination with the card selecting mechanism and the card lifting WILLIAM C. CUTLER.

Witnesses:

Orro H. KRUEGER, Jn ssm A. MANOOK. 

